The roadhouse. 2005.

"Winchester, get your ass round here and help me carry this!" Ellen yelled, raising the attention of both John and Sam who looked up from the table they were seated at. Both raised a questioning eyebrow at her. With a roll of her eyes and a put-on sigh, Ellen barked "John." The man in question stood, walking over to the bar and helped Ellen carry the large barrels of beer to the back of the storeroom. Sam looked back down towards the sheets sprawled on the table. Ash and his dad had been working together to find a way to track the yellow eyed demon. So far, they found that wherever he went left a trail of unusual weather activity behind. However, much more sinister was that he appeared to visit several children on the day they turned 6 months old. Ash came upon it completely by accident. He had informed john that in Kansas, there were two days in the same week with the same unusual activity. One day where the activity was unusual, was the day where Mary was murdered and the yellow eyed demon entered their home. Research into the second and later date revealed that there was also a fire in another home; a home filled with four children, one of whom turned six. Upon hearing this information, john and Sam both rushed down to Kansas to question the relatives on what happened.

Sam and john pulled up in the drive way of a small semi-detached home. "this is it?" Sam asked from his seat beside his father.

"yeah son, take out the FBI badge" he commanded. Sam did as was asked, pulling out a badge that labelled him as Agent Fred Turner of the FBI. Together, they exited the beloved car and made their way to the porch of the home. Knocking on the heavy oak door, it was eventually opened by a young male, approximately 20 years of age.

"uh, hello?" he asked, looking at their suits and the badge they held in their hands.

"we're agents Turner and Zeppelin of the FBI, can we come in Mr…?" Sam asked, trailing off.

"Mr Gunning. Sean Gunning" he held a hand out to them, opening the door wider and allowing them in the home. He took them into what Sam assumed was the living room, gesturing for them to both sit down on the worn beige couch.

"so, what's this about agents?" he asked curiously, getting comfortable in his chair.

"Well, we're tracking a man who has committed several murders. We believe he may have been associated with the tragedy that occurred in this home in 1983, around November" John elaborated, taking great care to make sure his face remained neutral and his voice devoid of the pain he felt at the reminder of that terrible night where his life was changed for the worst. Sean Gunning's face changed, his brow furrowing and his face grimacing.

"I wasn't born then, so I don't know much. But what do you exactly want to know?"

"we would like to know what happened here"

"my mom already told the police everything she saw"

"we know, but we're reopening the case and wish to be reminded on the events again" Sam explained sympathetically, taking out his notebook and a pen to encourage the male to talk.

"erm. Okay, fine" he sighed, sitting up straight. "so, November the 6th or something, everyone was at home. They all celebrated because Alicia – that's my older sister- had turned 6months exactly. Everyone was downstairs, when mom went upstairs. She says she saw a man standing over the crib, but uh- "Sean gunning drew off, his voice quieting as he looked reluctant to talk.

"please" Sam pleaded, "anything is useful"

"mom,uh, said that he had yellow eyes. That he managed to make her fly out the room, the door shut after him. Mom started banging on the door, dad and my uncles came up too. They managed to break through, but there was a big fire and- well, our uncles didn't make up. Mom, dad and 'Licia barely made it out"

"I see" john spoke after a while, his voice slightly rough. "is your mother in that we can speak to her?" he asked. Sean gunning tensed, shaking his head violently.

"no – uh she killed herself. A few years ago, now"

"i-im sorry" Sam whispered. "do you, you know why?"

"yeah. Because of Alicia. Because of that night. Mom said that everything happening to Alicia was her fault. She should never have agreed"

"what does that mean?!" john sat forward quickly, becoming very interesting in the turn the conversation had taken.

"well, Alicia went a bit cuckoo a few years ago. Said she kept seeing the yellow eyed guy in her dreams. He told her she was special, that she was one of his special children. That he was coming for her eventually. Drove Alicia mad. She was hearing voices"

"hearing voices?"

"she said she was psychic. That she could hear our thoughts?"

"and could she?" Sam asked quickly. Sean rose his eyebrows, then laughed disparagingly.

"Dude. That doesn't exist. Psychics aren't real. I gotta admit, she was pretty convincing. Told me things I dreamt about, things I said and thought – but they were probably obvious or something. Anyway, um. She got worse and worse, saying he was coming for her. Mom got real sad and guilty about it, wrote a note and offed herself" Sean murmured, looking down at his hands which were slightly trembling. Sam felt sympathetic for his suffering, he too lost a mother and knew the gap it left behind in the soul.

"can we see the note?" john asked, his mind racing with ideas of what yellow eyes' plan was, and how he was going to use kids to do it.

"yeah its… Gimme a second" the male said, jumping up quickly and exiting the room. Sam and john exchanged a heavy glance, before looking away and up at Sean who had just returned. In his hand was a crumpled letter, which he held with obvious reverence. It says: my dear children, husband, I love you all. But Alicia's suffering, my brother's deaths, are because of me. I made a deal years ago, ten years before we were pregnancy. I – I couldn't have children. I came out of the hospital, crying terribly. Then I saw a man, he asked me what was wrong. I told him. He asked me what I would do to have children, I told him anything. It was true, all I ever wanted. You were all I have ever wanted. He said it could happen, that I would get pregnant, but would just have to do one thing. He said that I just needed to allow him entrance into my home in ten years. I didn't think he was telling the truth, I didn't understand what he meant. But I said yes. And, and then, then a few weeks later I was pregnant! I always assumed the doctors made a mistake, but, but when Alicia was six months old I realised the truth. When I entered that room, I saw him standing over Alicia. With yellow eyes. And now Alicia is suffering, because of my actions. He wouldn't have been able to do this if It wasn't for me. I fear for Alicia and what will befall her. What will befall her because of me. He did something to her, and now she's going crazy. Please forgive me. Please remember that I loved you. All of you. Your loving mother." Sean looking up tearfully from the letter, his brown eyes swimming with unshed tears.

"I never understood why she did it. I thought Alicia's mental instability rubbed off on her. But- but she's gone"

"I'm terribly sorry for your loss. Can we possibly speak to Alicia?"

"no. she's not here either. She also killed herself, said she didn't want to do his plan. She- she said she read his mind. That he has terrible plans for all of them"

"all of them?" Sam asked, body paralysed with shock. What did yellow eyes want with him? With all of them? Did this mean – did his mom do- why him?

"she said there were more of them. She said they were all part of his plan"

"I – I see. Is there anything else you can tell us?" john asked stiltedly, his face masking his emotions perfectly.

"no agents. Nothing else. I hope you catch the guy who destroyed my family" he said at last, standing up and walking towards the door. He opened the door, shaking their hands one last time.

"me too. I'll do all I can to get justice" john vowed violently, before finally departing from the the car, it was silent between john and Sam. Both were thinking about what they had just learnt. "Dad?" Sam asked fearfully. "did mom do a deal? Why?". John said nothing. Minutes passed, they reversed out of the driveway and made their way to the highway. Then eventually he spoke: "I wouldn't want to believe she did. But- but perhaps she did. Our concern is what he wants with you Sam. And we need to find the other kids like you" john told him, his voice laden with all his suffering and negative thoughts.

"dad? She was psychic. Does that mean I have something too?"

"perhaps. You tell me the moment you do Sammy! You understand me? I won't let you turn out – "

"turn out like Alicia? Crazy. Dad, I'll tell you. But promise me, promise me, if I go dark you'll kill me" Sam turned to plead with his father. Their eyes met. It seemed for a long time, years in fact, that this was the first time they had ever made true eye contact. Sam looked into his father's dark eyes, saw the emotional turmoil warring inside his soul. Saw his father's love and his father's sense of duty combatting one another. Eventually, john nodded, then broke the gaze. "I promise, I'll kill you if you go dark." Sam nodded contently. At least he wouldn't hurt another soul. He simultaneously regretted and didn't regret asking: he wanted to make sure he wasn't a danger to anyone, but at the same time didn't wish to deprive his dad of another family member. He lost mom, lost dean, and now might lose Sam. Sam mourned for his dad, for the fate that befell him.

Sam was torn out the memory. Following that discovery, he, his father and Ash had done their best to locate all the children who were part of the yellow eyed demon's special plans. Using a complicated searching system, they searched across America for families which experienced fires, or any other strange activity related to 'yellow eyes' which would help them find more special children. So far, they had found three: a female named Lily Baker who lived in san Diego. She was brought to Johns attention when her girlfriend died of a heart attack, something lily claimed was her fault. Although institutionalised for suffering 'extreme survivors guilt', Lily was later released and lived a life of isolation. Although they didn't know what her power was, both Sam and john assumed it was something to do with her girlfriend's heart attack. The second they found was a male called Max Miller, whose mother died in the same way as Sam's. A little bit of digging revealed that Max had an abusive childhood, something John immediately rectified by portraying a member of social services and having Max immediately removed from the abusive environment. The third they found was another male, by the name of Andrew Gallagher. His adoptive mother was also killed when he was six months old. John and Sam were unsure as to whether Andrew's powers had developed.

Right now, they had two aims. They were still trying to track down more of the 'special children' to see if they could find a link between the children, but were also using Ash's new programme to see if they could track the yellow eyed demon's movements. Unable to concentrate with the growing noise, Sam begun to put the papers away back in the yellow file Ash had given them. Lately they had been staying at the Roadhouse, as Ash was extremely useful in helping them locate more children, and developing the programme to find Yellow Eyes. Not only were Sam and his dad staying there, but Bobby and Caleb were also currently staying at the Roadhouse too. Both men, along with Rufus and Pastor Jim had committed themselves to helping John find and kill the demon that had killed his wife and done something unknown to Sam.

"Hey Sam, how's it going?" Sam looked up to see Bobby approach the table and sit himself down. He slid one bottle of beer towards Sam, who opened it quickly and nodded to Bobby in thanks. "yeah it's fine I guess. Can't do anything now because of the crowd" he gestured to the growing number of hunters who had entered the Roadhouse. The roadhouse was regarded as a base for hunters: a base for them to regroup, to make new contacts, and to find hunts that were available. Currently, there were about 20 or so other hunters in the bar, most of them seated at the bar or around the other tables. Sam and Bobby were seated in the table closest in the corner, as they needed discretion for their tasks.

"Yeah I hear ya. Best to put it away for now, we'll work on it later. Here's your daddy" Bobby gruffly said, nodding his head to John who came back.

"that damn Ellen, certainly a slave driver" he commented, seating himself down with a great sigh on the old brown stool. "so, where's the rest?"

"Caleb is coming back now, he just drove down to pick up Pastor Jim" Bobby told him.

"yeah that's great. Jo, get me a beer please darling" John called out to Jo, who nodded with a bright smile before bringing over a bottle of beer for john.

"john Winchester! Next time get off your lazy ass and do it yourself" Ellen called from across the bar, causing john to nod in obedience whilst grumbling under his breath about her orders. Both bobby and Sam laughed at Ellen's chastisement, knocking their beers together.

"Ellen sure knows how to keep you in place Dad" Sam commented, grinning wryly at the glare john shot him. Sam just raised his hands, placing an innocent look on his face as Bobby continued to laugh at john.

The door to the roadhouse opened, causing most of the hunters to go quiet. Sam turned around in his seat to see what the commotion was about. There, standing at the door, were two civilians. A married male and woman, if judging by their intertwined hands, were standing at the door. They were wearing slacks and comfortable shoes, with tourist cameras and backpacks slung over their shoulders.

"hey there. I don't think this is your kind of bar" Bobby called out gently. A few hunters nodded along with them. The man and woman looked, assessing the crowd before commenting. It was the woman who spoke first.

"Well, if this crowd is hunters, then I think this is my kind of bar"

"hunters? What do you know about hunters?" Ellen called out in surprising, casting another glance at their attire.

"What? Because we don't wear the typical leather jacket and heavy boots we can't be hunters?" the male asked sarcastically.

"well, all's welcome here" Ellen said placatingly, gesturing for them to enter. "so, uh-?" she trailed off, waiting for them to give her their names.

"Lucy and mike smith" the woman spoke, shaking Ellen's hand.

"Lucy and mike smith, what brings you to my little bar in the middle of nowhere" Ellen questioned them, shaking the males hand next.

"We're looking for a yellow eyed demon" the woman spoke. Her words caused silence in the roadhouse. Every hunter had gone quiet, some casting glances towards Sam and john, and others to the two new guests.

"yellow eyed demon huh? And what do you want with that?" bobby asked, just as another hunter said "demons can't be killed. You're looking for trouble"

"well that's where you're wrong" the woman commented smoothly. "demons can be killed. We've got personal business with Azazel. We're gonna find him. And I'm gonna put a bullet in his skull" she spoke slowly and assuredly, her voice drenched in contempt for the yellow eyed demon.

"and why do two people, two civilians want to go looking for a demon?" john asked finally, his dark eyes staring at the newcomers.

"I don't see how that's your business" the female replied coolly, her eyes staring at john unflinchingly.

"okay okay!" Ellen spoke loudly, breaking the tension. "Everyone get back to what you're doing. You two- "she pointed at Lucy and mike, "Follow me." They followed her to the back of the bar, where john, bobby and Sam sat. without asking, the two hunters sat down at the table and made themselves comfortable.

"now. Who are you? What do you want with yellow eyes?" john asked coldly, leaning forward as though it was an interrogation.

"First, buddy, what's your name?" the male finally spoke, his voice warm and cheerful.

"I'm john Winchester. This is my son Sam". Sam raised a hand in welcome, before putting it down quickly, eager to listen to what they had to say.

"like I said, I'm Lucy and this is mike. We're after the yellow eyed demon, whose name is Azazel"

"why?" Ellen asked, spinning the chair and sitting down on it.

"he's a threat to our son" the woman spoke, eyes glittering in anger.

"how so?" Sam asked breathily. Was their kid like him? A special one?

"we met him a couple years ago. Nearly killed me. Told us he was coming back for our son. That aint gonna happen. We're gonna kill him first" she spoke in a cool detached tone.

"Is your son…special in any way?" Sam asked cautiously, watching their faces carefully for any change in emotion.

"Special how?"

"Does he have any powers?" John elaborated.

"No. no he doesn't. he's just normal" Mike told them, shaking his head negatively.

"Unless you count the fact he's got a powerful demon after him" the woman snorted, rolling her eyes.

"when was your son born? 1983?" John asked them. Sam knew his father didn't believe their answer that their son didn't have any powers.

"no. 1979. Why? Is that important?" Lucy asked them, raising an eyebrow.

"yes" Sam told them.

"why?" she asked. As Sam opened his mouth to speak, his dad nudged him in the side. Sam knew his dad didn't want him to tell them about the kids, but he knew it would be important if they truly wanted to protect their son.

"in 1983, he visited several new born babies. Did something to them. Now, some of them are developing powers. We don't know what his aim is, but he wants these kids for something. He's after your son but…but he's not the same age as everyone else. Maybe it's something different then?"

"yeah, maybe. What we found from Azazel's daughter is that he wants only one of them"

"what do you mean daughter?" Bobby asked, the same time as Ellen interjected with "why one?"

"we found and captured Azazel's daughter. She spoke after we – convinced her" Lucy's eyes had taken on a cold glint, her lip curling at the mention of the demon's daughter. Her tone lost its warm, as she became clearly reminiscent in her memories. "She said he only needed one. So, if he's got a lot of kids, all with powers, perhaps they're gonna fight it out. Macho y macho until one wins" she shrugged, tossing off the idea casually. Sam frowned, contemplating the idea. It could make sense; everyone had different powers, eventually they'd fight and Azazel would get to keep the strongest one.

"do you have any leads on where he is?" John asked them. They shook their head, slouching in dejection.

"no. the last demon we questioned told us that Azazel was heading north for something. But we don't know how to track him specifically, we just follow the weather signs and deaths" Lucy confessed to them, her eyes flashing with irritation at their lack of progress.

"Well we've got something" John finally confessed. "we've got a guy who's made a programme. He inserts factors such as 'unusual weather activity', 'animal mutilation', 'fire'. It searches America and creates a list of places where it happens, and then we search and see if he's there" John explained roughly, he himself still unsure of how exactly Ash made the searching programme work.

"Hmm. You mind sharing that with us?" the man asked. John pondered it over. It could be useful to have more hunters on the job, especially people with their own vendetta against the yellow eyed- Azazel was his name, John reminded himself.

"I will, if you tell us some more about yourself. How long you been hunting? How did you get into it? More importantly, when your son was 6months old did anything happen to him? Did anyone enter the house? Did you-" John spoke specifically to Lucy, "make a deal with the yellow eyed guy, or anyone ten years before your son was born?"

"Well, we had no idea supernatural creatures existed" Lucy confessed. "Until Azazel came after our son, we had no clue. Then, we realised demons existed. We had to be prepared for him, so we began to research about other creatures. We started with ghosts, then vamps, werewolves. The rest. We've been hunting eleven years now. Raised both our boys in it" she told them, smiling faintly at the mention of her sons. Johns heart panged at that. He wondered how different it would be if Dean was still alive.

Her husband continued the story, raising his voice so that everyone seated around the table could hear. "we started out in one state, moved from place to place. I'm a doctor, so at first it was pretty difficult to always be on the road. We left our youngest with some family members, until he was old enough to join us. We became known as the 'hunter family', started making connections. Our sons have now branched off, done their own thing. But we won't rest until we kill him. This wasn't the life was imagined for our boys. We wanted them to have a normal life. But when you're a parent, you'll do anything for your son. So now this is-" Mike's speech was cut off by a buzzing sound. Lucy pulled out a phone, shooting her husband a quick smile.

"hey honey" she spoke, her voice full of love and happiness at the person on the phone. John assumed it was her sons. "we're at the Harvelle's Roadhouse, got a lead on Azazel. Finish everything you're doing and come down here. Yeah, tell him I said I love him. Keep him safe baby. Yeah, we love you lots. See you soon" she hung up the phone, placing it back in her pocket. She smiled up at john. He felt another pang of pain in his heart. He missed Dean, he missed his son who he would never see again. But at least he had Sammy. He glanced at his son who shot him a small smile. Yeah, at least he had his son.

Dean and Joey were in the car on the way to the Roadhouse. "what do you think they found out about?" Joey asked curiously. He moved his hand to the stereo.

"oi! Keep your hands off my radio. Driver picks the music-"

"-shotgun shuts his cakehole, yeah yeah I know Dee" Joey fondly rolled his eyes at Deans antics. Dean glared at him, before reaching his own hand towards the radio. Fiddling with it for a moment, he eventually chose one station. It was 'Simple man' by Lynrd Skynrd.

"since this songs on" joey begun nervously, "you ever want to be a simple man?" dean snorted at the reference. "nah I mean it Dean, we had a couple years of bliss. You ever want it back?"

"I mean- yeah sometimes. But now I know, I'm not blind anymore. I know about the danger that's everywhere, I can protect myself and the people I love from it. Its – its not bliss, but it's knowledge. Plus, can you imagine me settling down? What would I even do?" he snorted, laughing at the idea.

"be a mechanic. You love cars" Joey told him. "mom and dad could buy a garage. You and mom could fix cars, dad could take house calls. I'd –"

"go to college" dean interjected quickly. Joey looked up at him in shock.

"yeah kid, you'd go to college. You're 18, smart as hell. I know you want to go. So go. This September go. Applications haven't finished yet. Or have you applied already?" he asked knowingly, raising an eyebrow at his little brother. Joey blushed, raising a hand to run through his growing hair.

"yeah I applied. I'm studying law. Law at Stanford hopefully"

"man that's great!" dean yelled enthusiastically, hitting his brother on the back of his head. He ignored the 'Dean!' that Joey cried out. "I mean it. That's great. You can help people, just in a different way. I'm proud of you joey. Looks like we only have a couple more months hunting together"

"we'll still hunt!" Joey promised him. "this is still a part of my life. I cant escape it. On weekends we'll go on hunts. If Azazel isn't dealt with then I'll even drop out to-"

"-no! don't you say that" dean commanded him. "You're going to Stanford, that's it. I'm real proud of you, believe me"

"yeah, thanks Dee. I' proud of you. I'm happy to have you as a brother. I love you"

"no chick flick moments, bitch" dean growled out, trying and failing to hide the faint smile that was on his face. Joey rolled his eyes, but said nothing. He just continued to smile, eyes on the long stretch of road that was ahead of them, as the music continued to play.

Be a simple kind of man.

Be something, you love and understand.

Baby be a simple kind of man.

Oh won't you do this for me son, if you can.